Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax, of Cabbages and Kings...

Ok, not quite what I've encountered this week, but it's a fun line. :-D (Comes from the song in Alice in Wonderland by the Walrus and the Carpenter).

So. Lots to report. Last weekend was filled with preparations for the arrival of the Crown Princess of Belgium. This included a lot of flower arranging and making sure the Jeanne Jugan Residence was all spiffed up and ready. We also had practice every day with the residents to rehearse for a song we would sing in the auditorium for her.

Princess Mathilde came Monday morning. She was here less than an hour. (click to see pictures) The residents presented her with flowers and a necklace (made by the residents), and also sweaters knitted by the residents for her four children. She was very nice and gracious, going around to a lot of the residents individually and talking with them. I got to shake her hand too. :) Apparently she has also visited the lsp in Belgium, and she and her family are Catholic. Neat fact: she speaks four languages (French, Dutch, English, Italian). There were a lot of press that came too (mostly Belgian press). So if you happened to be in Belgium, you may have seen us on TV.

Tuesday Michelle, Sam, and I had our day off, and we went ventured out to find some good seafood. We ended up down at Captain White's Seafood, where there was a whole bunch of fish markets. I've never been to one before. Rows upon rows of fish, crabs, oysters, shrimp and more. We even got a free sample. One of the guys took a crab, broke it in half somehow and handed it to Michelle. (Be sure to check out some of the pictures I got). I ended up getting a crabcake sandwhich, and it was really good. While we ate our dinner by the pier we witnessed some really amazing ducks in the water. They made my day. :) The were so funny to watch, especially when we threw bread to them. It was a mad rush in the water! (See the video below).



After that we went to visit the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. I had visited a holocaust museum once before back in MI, but a long time ago. It was certainly not an easy thing to witness this time. Seeing the piles of shoes and other belongings of the victims....reading the stories of those who survived, and those who didn't...walking through the railway cars they had to ride in, seeing the bunks they slept in, and the uniforms they wore...watching video footage of the prisoners, and witnessing the absolute madness of hatred and horror that humanity is capable of... Something else that struck me too was the Torah. Seeing fragments of the scrolls that had been taken from the temples, trampled upon....the Word of God... The Torah is so central to the Jewish faith in any Temple...and then seeing footage of the burning temples... At the end of the exhibit there was a room talking about the genocide happening right now in Darfur. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters over there. One thing that also came to mind was, I just hope someday there will be something like this that will witness to the genocide also happening right now in our own country, and around the world: Abortion. One day. I hope soon.

I had planned to attend Theology on Tap that night too, as Msgr. Charles Pope was speaking. However, I was so exhausted (as most of our days off have been lol) and with being in 90 degree heat all day I just couldn't do it. But the talks are recorded, and it should be put up on their website soon. You can hear it here.

Today was a pretty normal day, although we've been running around getting ready for a big activity we're having tomorrow (I'll post about this next time).

I hope you've all had a good week! Be sure to check out the pictures. :)
Peace!
~Christina

Love's Teaching

I feel like this post is going to take a bit of a different direction than my previous ones. Apart from being very tired while writing this, I don't know as though I've really "put out there" more of what I'm experiencing personally, aside from all the events that are happening here. So...I will attempt to do this while also giving you a run down of what's happened this past week or so.

It's so tough to try and remember what's happened since the days run together and so do the weeks lol. Anyways, really, each day is an adventure. You never know what you'll be asked to do or help out with. I think the variety is great, but at the same time you really begin to realize what trusting in God's Providence means when it comes to not knowing what will happen day to day.

The residents themselves are teaching me a lot. Some of them are very much a challenge to work with (many are ill, some have infirmities that are very disabling, and some have attitudes that can be harsh and unkind at times). It's really a grace of God to be able to serve them. I could never do it without Jesus's help. But I see Jesus in them too. In every one of them who suffers, Jesus is there. I'm learning what it means to "not pass the Lord by." And I also see more and more the struggle of fear and selfishness that lies within me when it comes to having true charity towards others. But God loves me, and is working on my heart in this way.

There are some real Saints in the making here. I am inspired and daily see the goodness of God in this woman I work with in the Sacristy. Her name is Anne, and she amazes me. At 90 years old, she gets up every morning to prepare the Chapel for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And not only that, but sometimes there are two Masses in one day here. Then there are all the preparations for Evening Prayer and the laundry...among other things.

She and I both share a great love for St. Terese of Lisieux, and when I told her I was going to Spain and to Avila before World Youth Day she couldn't stop telling me how wonderful it would be. :-) I had such a wonderful conversation with her the other day. Anne has a beautiful story. She worked as a lay extern for an order of Carmelite Nuns. She was a sacristan for them for many years, was never married, and is also a third order Carmelite. What's so cool is that there are three other women here who also worked with her in the convent and they all got together and decided they wanted to come live with the lsp. So one after another, as they retired, they left and came here.

Tuesday I was able to attend Mass and go to Confession at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land (just a mile or so away). It was beautiful to see again. The first time I went was back in January when I was in DC for the March for Life. This time I got to not only view the inside and took the tour for the 2nd time (of which I have posted lots of pictures), but I also got to view the grounds outside. At the end of Mass I was blessed (I think?) by a relic of St. Anthony. Apparently we attended the St. Anthony Mass that day.

Yesterday Sr. Constance (the one who initially placed me in DC and organizes the summer service program for the lsp) invited us summer volunteers to come to a talk she was giving in Baltimore. Apparently she and some other people decided to start something up for young adults in the in-between years of having graduated from college but not yet gotten married or found perhaps a different vocation. The group meets regularly, and it's so neat because local religious sisters also attend. There were a few lsp of course, two sisters from an order that were Anglicans who just came into the Catholic Church a couple of years ago, there were two other sisters from different orders present, and apparently the Nashville Dominicans usually come too (but are back at the Motherhouse for the summer). It was such a tremendous blessing to go. The topic for the night was "Redemptive Suffering in the life of Bl. John Paul II." Besides being a fascinating discussion and talk, it was great just to get out with the sisters, get to know one of them a bit during the drive there, and to see how applicable JPII's witness was to the elderly and the work I'm engaging in during this experience.

Today we got to practice a song we (the residents and other staff and volunteers) will be singing for the Crown Princess of Belgium who is coming to visit us next Monday. (Did I mention she was coming? ;)). Apparently the she's going to be with us for a couple of hours in the morning while her husband (the crown prince of Belgium) has meetings and other things going on. It's going to be interesting with all the press and security that will be here too.

Thanks much to all of you who have been praying for me. Please keep doing so. Also keep in your prayers a sister here who has been sick for the past two weeks, and one of our resident priest's who was admitted to the hospital a couple of days ago.

God Bless,
~Christina

Recent Events - Link to Relevant Post From My Other Blog

Not sure if any of you have visited my other blog (the one I normally write out of when not designating other blogs like this one to specific trips or experiences). But if you follow the link below, the post I put up recently very much connects to issues I've encountered already in my only 3rd week with the Little Sisters.

http://restinginthepalmofhishand.blogspot.com/2011/06/who-is-poorer-than-poor-old-person.html

Otra semana y el Jubilee

Sam, "Queen" Bernice, and me
Had to throw in a bit of Spanish there in the title. :-) (Otra Semana means "another week"). Anyways...the adventure continues!

This past week has been insane in the way of preparations for the Golden Jubilee celebration we held on Monday for Mother Benedict (to commemorate her 50 years as a little sister). Mother Benedict is from New Orleans, so the theme was "All things New Orleans." We had an elaborate dinner, followed by the celebration show. Many of the staff, volunteers (including me), and residents participated. I was the patriotic float (I got to wear a great big cardboard box decorated with all kinds of patriotic memorabilia) and I marched with the other volunteers and a bunch of little sisters to a 50 states song. We also had a Royal Court (as you see Bernice in the picture above), the New Orleans Saints, a veggie patrol, the splish splash crew, pacific island, Elvis and the rock band, and other themed float coalitions lol. :-) Then for dinner we got to eat with the sisters. It was so nice to be able to spend some "non working" time with them and chat. See the pictures tab for lots more pictures of the festivities.

Hmmm...what else happened...this past Friday I was able to see Fr. Eddie briefly at the Basilica and heard him say Mass in the IHM chapel in the crypt. We had a wonderful Mass for Pentecost here with the little sisters. A choir even came in from the Basilica to sing, they were beautiful to listen to. Monday's Mass for the Jubilee was lovely as well. It was a lot of fun decorating the chapel too (I get to help this saintly woman, Anne, in the Sacristy every day). What else...got to see more of downtown DC yesterday. I walked around with Sam and we ended up finding St. Patrick's church and went to the 12:10 Mass. We also walked around the mall and generally explored.

Well, I think that's about all for now. Though I feel like I'm going to be in some great need of sleep when I get back to MI, I'm certainly learning a lot here and loving serving with the little sisters. 6 weeks seems to be going by far too quickly.

I would love to hear from you all! (hint - leave me comments!). Prayers and Peace to you.
~Christina

Encounters of the Celebrity and Saintly Kind

I'm coming to find out that here in DC at the Jeanne Jugan Residence of the Little Sisters, it is quite the place for surprise (or not so suprised) visits by celebrities/royalty (literally) and Saintly folk in general.

The residents themselves even fit this category. Currently, we have staying with us Cardinal Baum (retired Cardinal for the Archdiocese of Washington), an Archbishop, a Monsignor, 4-5 other priests, and a little old Sister from Columbia who is in her mid 90's. We also have an EWTN host who is a priest that is a resident here...his name escapes me at the moment. Not to mention we also had a random visit by Cardinal O'Malley, and Francis Cardinal George was recently at the Basilica. Quite the group!

There is also "rumor" floating around that we are to have a royal visitor to the house soon. Anyone want to take a guess??? ;-D

On another note, the past few days have gone extremely well. I feel as though my body is finally beginning to adjust to the schedule and lack of sleep. Sunday was more relaxed, which was nice. I got some practice in for the big celebration we are planning for Mother Benedict's Golden Jubilee which is happening next Monday (pictures to be posted on this I promise ;-)). Monday had a lot of orientation training...and I managed to lock myself out of my room (hopefully this will not be a repeat occurrence). Tuesday was the volunteers day off, so I went with Samantha (another summer service intern here) to the Basilica for noon Mass, had lunch, and then walked a ways to this organic store to check it out. Also got some laundry done lol. And today I hosted cafe and listened to stories by Fr. Q, and hosted a "Trivia Night" with some residents which was a lot of fun...also took a few more pictures that I have posted, click here.

Interesting/heroic/inspiring note: One of the priests who says Mass here frequently is from Africa, and escaped the Rwandan genocide. He's been a priest for 10 years, and will be heading back to Africa soon. He happened to say Mass last Friday, the Memorial of Charles Lwanga and Companions who were Ugandan Martyrs. Listening to his homily telling some of the history behind their death moved me to tears. He is a very saintly priest.

More to come later...

One more quick post for the day

This video is hilarious. Sr. Pauline is here in DC (you might remember the post I put up about her and the article written by the Washington Gazette about her being the "begging Sister."). Watch the video. :-D

First Week Flaberganza

Sr. Camille (left) with staff and resident

Whew! I've only been here since Monday, and what a week it's been! I'll try to sum up so this post doesn't get incredibly long, but there is much to tell.

I left for the airport in Flint early Monday morning only to arrive there and find out I had left my driver's license at home. With no picture ID and only copies of other official documents, I was afraid I was going to miss or have to reschedule my flight. By God's grace, they let me through security and check-in with my passport copy. The plane ride was pretty non-eventful....had an hour layover in Cleveland before re-routing to DC.

When I got into Reagan International, there was an interesting turn of events. :-) I had a few delays getting down to the baggage terminal where Sr. Camille (postulant director in DC) and Meg (volunteer coordinator) were waiting for me. Sister called me on my cell phone very worried I had missed my connecting flight as I had emailed her about me not having my driver's license with me. I finally get down to claim my bag, and find that not only are all the bags gone, but mine was not at the ticket counter, and Sister and Meg were nowhere to be seen either. After talking with some of the staff and some mild confusion, I finally find out that Sister and Meg picked up my bag and were upstairs. So I got a hold of them and we finally meet up. :) What a morning/afternoon lol! When we arrived to the Jeanne Jugan Residence I got a tour and met Michelle, who is also serving here this summer. Then we went to evening prayer, dinner, and then I went to bed as I was exhausted.

The rest of the week has become somewhat of a blur of events. I've aided the residents in getting from one place or another (the other day we went shopping - always a big deal around here :) - and helped one of the residents buy shoes), helped with sacristan duties, served meals, hosted at the cafe while the residents played bingo, painted a few ladies' nails, had some good conversations getting to know the residents, watched Padre Pio Miracle Man part 1 for a movie night we had, went through some orientation things (which included a drug test in somewhat of a shady area of DC), and we also planted tomatoes and watered plants (we have basil, lavender and other flowers, and strawberries!).

In addition the other volunteers and I are working on a big project with Sr. Camille for Mother Benedict's golden jubilee. We're having a big celebration New Orleans style where mother is from. So far this has included making veggie hats for the veggie patrol float, walking around in a cardboard patriotic float for the volunteer's practice run, interviewing residents for the royal court, singing "You Are My Sunshine," and making party favors.

The normal schedule I follow is something like this:
7:30am Morning Prayer
Breakfast
9am - 11 Hospitality aide/sacristan duties
11am Mass
12pm Serve lunch to the residents
Eat Lunch
1-5pm Hospitality/sacristan/cafe host/random activities
5pm Rosary
5:30 Evening Prayer
6pm Serve Supper to Residents
Dinner
7pm-8pm Evening activity M-F
Bed

It's been a struggle getting to learn all the residents names (there are probably about 150 residents here). I tend to learn a few new ones each day...and it's so wonderful getting to know them. Some are not afraid of chiding you or speaking out (such as when an elderly priest shook his head in his hands when I told him I didn't know there was a St. Christina or what her feast day (and mine) was lol). But most are such a joy...I even got a great big hug from one of them today. :-)

Many of the residents are from different countries too (Germany, Argentina, Italy, and others) so the accents are fun but makes it hard to understand them sometimes. A lot of them like to tell you stories, and most just want your attention and love. There is one lady from Italy who is definitely a saint...she's blind and has lost both legs, and has been through a tremendous ordeal yet has the kindest and sweetest disposition. When you look into her eyes you see Christ. There's also an older gentleman who dresses up each day in a suit and bowtie, though he is blind he is very kind and I will be reading to him every so often. There are more that I would love to tell you about...I'll save them for another post. :-)

The days are very busy here. It's been kind of "go go go" a lot. :-) But it's great that there is so much variety and time to participate with the sisters in Morning/evening prayer. Daily Mass is such a blessing of course. They also have a holy hour twice a week. I haven't been able to spend as much time with the sisters yet, but there are still 5 weeks to go. I was able to meet Sheri this past week for dinner as she was also in DC for work, which was nice. Taking the metro was interesting as it's been a while. I get every Tuesday off with the other volunteers, so I'm sure we'll have some interesting adventures via that mode of transportation around DC.

Well, I think this post is already long enough, so I'll wrap it up. I hope all of you are doing well, and I have kept you in my prayers. Please leave me comments!!! :-D I will try to post more pictures later, but for now I'll upload some that I took of the room I'm staying in (as you'll see, the sisters spoil us). They're located under the pictures tab above.

Peace and Love of Jesus to you all!
~Christina